Tad Robinson would have fit in snugly with the blue-eyed soul singers of the 1960s. His vocals virtually reeking of soul, he’s capable of delving into a straight-ahead Little Walter shuffle or delivering a vintage O.V. Wrioght R&B ballad. Add his songwriting skills and exceptional harp technique and you have quite the total package.

Tad grew up in New York City on a nutritious diet of Stax, Motown, and Top 40, digging everyone from Otis Redding and Arthur Alexander to Eric Burdon and Joe Crocker. He matriculated at Indiana University’s school of music in 1980, fronting a solid little combo on the side called the Hesitation Blues Band that made it up to Chicago now and then (where he soon relocated).

Long respected locally, his reputation outside the city limits soared when he took over as vocalist with Dave Specter and the Bluebirds Their 1994 Delmark disc, Bluplicity, was an inspiring marriage of Robinson’s soaring vocals and Specter’s tasty, jazz-laced guitar and featured the striking the Robinson-penned originals “What’s Your Angle,” “Dose of Reality,” and “On the Outside Looking In.”

Since then Robinson has gone on to make 6 critically acclaimed solo albums of his own, which have garnered him five Blues Award nominations. Here is what Living Blues says of his latest offering: “Unlike many “revivalist” blues and soul artists, he’s found a way to retain his own voice, evoking the spirits of past masters but never sounding as if he’s trying to be something he’s not. Even on an aching deep-soul ballad like You Name It I’ve Had It—the kind of take-no-prisoners vocal workout that has left many a soul man gasping for breath and grasping for respectability—he summons heart-rent passion and gospel-honed hope with unaffected ease. He incorporates stylistic elements of the fabled soul men—Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, James Carr—as he deems appropriate, but they all meld into a voice that remains distinctly his own.”

Bruce Katz is a 3 time Blues Music Award nominee himself, and has released 6 CDs of his own as band leader and appeared on others’ CDs of artists such as Ronnie Earl, John Hammond, Duke Robillard, Little Milton and Jimmy WItherspoon. Katz also teaches piano and Hammond organ and theory at the Berklee School of Music. This is a two-for-one treat that is not to be missed!